BRUNSWICK

Brunswick police are encouraging bicyclists to register their bikes through the department’s online registration program. Bicyclists Can also register at the police department at 85 Pleasant St. They just need the serial number, make and model of the bike and any other identifying information.

Police can provide a registration sticker making it easier for them to track the owners of stolen bicycles.

Brunswick Police Cmdr. Tom Garrepy encouraged people to register their bikes, especially college students.

“With that being said, we certainly want to encourage people to lock their bikes at all times,” he said.

Brunswick Police Cmdr. Mark Waltz estimated police get three or four bicycle related complaints a week on average, and police have a large stockpile of found bicycles.

Getting the make, model and serial numbers of bicycles along with a description also allows police to enter them into a national crime data base in the event they are stolen.

Often by the time police recover them, bikes may not be worth as much as when snatched, especially if they’ve been ditched in someone else’s yard or tossed into the Androscoggin River.

Many bicycle thefts go unreported, according to Waltz. Police have a chance to return recovered bicycles to the rightful owners if they are registered.

“Otherwise we have this pile of bikes,” he said.

Eventually, unclaimed bicycles are sold on Property- Room.com. The company’s website states that by statute, law enforcement agencies must auction seized, found, and unclaimed personal property at public auction.

dmoore@timesrecord.com

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